Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Hey guys I am new to the board and I will admit that I am a bracket racer, however hoping to one day get into class racing such as stock or super stock, I have a 1969 Camaro and run 1/8th mile bracket races, I am looking at changing my converter but I dont know what to go with I was hoping with your expertise you could help me out, I have had to many run ins with conveter companies recomending me the wrong converter then not wanting to do anything about it. Thanks in advance, heres the specs....
69 Camaro 3500lbs
406sbc
400 Turbo tranny with transbrake
4.33 Gear
Roller Cam 242/242 @ .05 .555/.555 lift
3.75 stroke
750DP carb with vic jr intake
28x9-15 Slick
205/16 heads 64cc 215 runner
leaf spring car (if it matters)
shifting at 5700rpm
CURRENT converter Trans Specialties 10 incher 35-3800. (Too Small????)

Thanks again guys for your help !

Eric Bowling NHRA 332X

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Hey Eric,

Welcome to the board.
You will deffinatly need a looser converter for your combo. I think an 8 inch converter with 5500 stall should work nicely. also that 433 gear will have to go. if you are only running 1/8 mile a 5.57 gear with the short tire should work good. The 433 gear will make your motor labor and will cause the converter to slip excessivly resulting in alot of heat and premature failure. also it will cause the car to be inconsistent. contact ATI for the best converters. Looks like you have a pretty good motor for your purpose. Now concentrate on the chassis and the rest of the combo.

Mike

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Wont a 557 gear wind the guts out of the motor?? trust me any help you guys give me will help a ton, I am a really succesfull bracket racer but I can always use pointers from you guys with suspension and other information, I am a 9 time points champion in Pro class I am 30 years old and I have been having problems getting this car to hook for 2 years well since I put a brake in it, It hook great on a great track surface BUT, in unfavorable conditions the car is all over the starting line, the car get about 4-6 inches off the ground now, but I would like it to be more just for traction purposes, I have the Koni Spa1's on the front with moroso springs on front with afco leafs and Competion Engineering Slide a links on the rear, with Rancho 9000's on the rear, I am pretty low budget like to stay as cheap as possible, any recomendations??? Thanks in advance. Car specs are in above post!

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

There are a lot of good converter companies,We use Turbo Action,and have for 30+ years.ATI,PTC are also good.There are others too,you shoud spend some time with each manufacturer,and listen to what they say.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

All but one out of 7 companies recomended me a 4500-4800 converter, Trans Specialties said 5400-5600.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Just out of curiosity, did you talk to Coan?

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Yep Art @ Coan was the first person I talked to and he told me that a 4500-4800 would be perfect.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Just my opinion, but with the 3.75" stroke, you need to look at it more like a big block - torque! A little too much gear and/or little too much converter is much worse not quite enough of either/both. I don't think you'd need more than 4.56, especially with those short tires and if you ever plan to run 1/4 mile. Taller and wider tires can help if you have the room. But I've found that some bracket tracks just don't want to spend the time and money to keep the surface in optimum condition. With much of their money coming from street cars, it doesn't help help the traction situation when the rubber mixes on the track.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Has anyone of you ran an ATI Treemaster 8 inch? I called over there and I think I am going to go with the ATI BUT they said I needed to go with the ATI MRT which is suppose to be better for a transbrake, the problem is its $100 more than the treemaster, both have the ballooning plates would it be safe to run the treemaster? They recomended me a 4500-4800, does this sound about right? Thanks!

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Eric,

I would highly recomend that you follow what the guys at ATI have to say. I have run the 8 inch treemasyter converter for about 25 years. believe it or not I still have the original converter that I bought back in 1982. I have never had a failure. The only reason I sent it back to ATI was to change the converter to keep up with the changes in the class. We run a much looser converter in the super stock cars now with the ported heads and the trans brake. The MRT is mostly for the super catagories to get a faster reaction time. I dont think it is nessary for a bracket car as you are probably using a delay box.

Mike

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Thanks Mike so if I understand correctly you are saying I will/should be safe with the normal Treemaster and dont have to spend the extra $100 for the MRT.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Yes Eric you will have excellent results with the treemaster. I use the same type converter in my 1968 camaro super stock car. 6200 stall 3800 leave RPM 3200 lbs 350 cubic inch flat top motor w/ Q- jet carb 9.92 @ 129 mph

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Man thats impressive what cam specs are you running and gear?? What kind of 60's are you pulling?

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Thanks Eric,

cam spec 276 @.050 .801 lift 105C/L install @99, Powerglide w/ 1.94 low, 6.17 rear, 12.5 X 31.25 M/T radial tires 100.5 roll out.
This aint your dads bracket car. LOL

Mike

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Went with a Coan 8 inch Art @ Coan told me to go with a 45-4800 8 inch so thats what we did, hopefully it will help me out!! Thanks for all your input!

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Good choice Eric. Let me know how it works for you. I use some of Coan's parts in my trans also, Brake , pump and light weight drum. E-mail me at ssia2485@yahoo.com

Mike

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

That is what had me chasing my tail for 2 years Eric, TOO TIGHT for a 3-speed smallblock bracket ride.
Hide and watch your 60' to 330' incrementals go crazy.

8" OPEL style front cover, minimum 5300 stall, all my problems went away.


But I do everything wrong, I also ran 4.11 gears with a 1.76 Pukeglitch......

I'll NEVER part with my JOHN KILGORE 2.10/1.40 gear set in my TH-400........had it for 8 years now.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Whats up Goob-

Just so everyone knows the converter actually flashes to 5200, I asked him to make it lose (cause of what goob said) however, I took it to the track this weekend and :mad: the car 60'd pretty good BUT it didnt hook, it is doing what it has been all year with the 10 incher , but 60's and the 330's were dead on all night, consistant spin? to make a long story short I have to get this thing hooking and I dont know how, I have replaced everything suspension wise this year and everything was new last year, I have had 3 set of fronts on the car and 2 on the rear, I am currently running the KONI Spa1 on front and the Ranchos on back, the car is pulling straight up then down then blowing the tires off of it, last year this car would hook on ice now it dont even think about it, it was pulling the wheels about 6-8 inches now its now coming up and going out its just jumping up then down and unloading, car has new Trick springs on it as well. Slide a links with afco multi leafs on rear that were bought mid season last year. I have 5 inches of front end travel, Please advise on how to make this thing work. 28x9-15 tire I am sure dont help matters any but I know a lot of people running fast than 7.50's getting a 9 inch tire to hook! Please advise! I am now begging! Thanks!

Eric Bowling

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

oh ya almost forgot, it seems like I am not getting any body seperation anymore, also the front end is coming up and hitting where the Rubber Snubber USED TO BE. Once it gets there is when it drops quick then unloads, hopefully that will help out with your advise too. thanks again!

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

someone?? anyone?? HELP!!!:confused:

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Sounds to me like you may need to tighten the front shock rebound up some to slow the front end rise. If it rises too quickly, it can unload the rear tires and then the front drops quickly. You want the front end to rise in a controlled manner and stay up as long as possible to keep weight on the rear tires, then come down at a slow controlled rate.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

You're hitting it harder, and need to make sure you have plenty of pinion angle.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

I already have 4 degree blocks in there does someone make something with more angle?

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

You could stack wedges as long as they don't cover up the pin/bolt that locates the axle housing on the spring. Do you know what your pinion angle is?
Are your front shocks already set tight?

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

I already have two 2* wedges in each side, I have added 4* total to the angle and now it only has about -3. Shocks are set to 3/4 Stiff in front. They are Koni SPA1's someone told me to put them on stiff because it sounded like the front was coming up to quickly.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

3* down is probably good for a factory 3 or 4 link, but leaf springs tend to need more. Slide-a-Links may do a better job of combating pinion angle change, but slapper bars usually like 6-8* down.
The other day, I saw a 70s Ford pickup driving down the road. When he accelerated (not really getting on it much), I could see his axle housing twist up quite a bit. Granted, he had lift blocks and no traction bars, but he wasn't launching to a 1.5 second 60' time either.

Re: Needing Help selecting Converter.....
 

Ericz have someone video the car at the line then take it to big screen tv and play it in slow mo . iF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RUBBER ON THE BUMP STOP THIS MAY BEUPSET THE CAR TRY TIGHTING THE FT AND REAR SHOCK then video it again. hope this helps. JHanig